Large Truck Crash Statistics: Deaths, Injuries and Rates by Year
NHTSA's latest full-year data covers 2024. Who dies in truck crashes, where they happen and how the rate per mile has moved over ten years.
In 2024, 5,340 people were killed and an estimated 161,201 injured in traffic crashes involving large trucks, according to NHTSA’s latest full-year data, published in June 2026. Deaths fell 2.5% from 5,478 in 2023. Seventy percent of the people killed were in other vehicles, and large trucks were involved in fatal crashes at a rate of 1.58 per 100 million miles they traveled.
NHTSA defines a large truck as any medium or heavy truck rated over 10,000 lb, excluding buses and motor homes, commercial or not. Fatality counts come from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a census of fatal crashes; injury figures are estimates from a national sample.
How many people die in large truck crashes each year?
Deaths in crashes involving large trucks peaked at 5,969 in 2022 and have fallen in each of the two years since. The ten-year series from NHTSA:
| Year | People killed | Truck occupants killed | Occupants of other vehicles killed | Pedestrians, cyclists, others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,095 | 665 | 3,017 | 413 |
| 2018 | 5,006 | 890 | 3,563 | 553 |
| 2020 | 4,945 | 822 | 3,501 | 622 |
| 2021 | 5,821 | 1,011 | 4,176 | 634 |
| 2022 | 5,969 | 1,098 | 4,187 | 684 |
| 2023 | 5,478 | 962 | 3,843 | 673 |
| 2024 | 5,340 | 920 | 3,753 | 667 |
NHTSA changed its vehicle classification in 2020, so it warns that 2020 and later figures are not directly comparable with 2019 and earlier years. The full tables are in NHTSA’s Large Trucks: 2024 Data fact sheet.
How many people are injured in truck crashes?
NHTSA estimates 161,201 people were injured in crashes involving large trucks in 2024, up 5% from 153,486 in 2023. About 72% of the injured were in other vehicles and 26% were truck occupants. Police reported an estimated 548,521 large trucks in crashes of all kinds in 2024, most of them property-damage-only.
Medium trucks, rated 10,001 to 26,000 lb, account for a growing share. They were 31% of large trucks in fatal crashes in 2024 and 44% of those in injury crashes, compared with 27% and 35% in 2020.
Is the truck crash rate going up or down?
Measured per mile, the fatal crash involvement rate for large trucks has moved within a narrow band for a decade. NHTSA’s figures, using FHWA mileage data:
| Year | Large trucks in fatal crashes | Large-truck miles (billions) | Rate per 100 million truck miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,075 | 279.8 | 1.46 |
| 2019 | 5,033 | 300.1 | 1.68 |
| 2021 | 5,733 | 327.0 | 1.75 |
| 2022 | 5,873 | 331.3 | 1.77 |
| 2023 | 5,382 | 329.9 | 1.63 |
| 2024 | 5,218 | 329.6 | 1.58 |
The rate rose from 2015 to a peak of 1.77 in 2022 and has dropped since. Large trucks drove 10% of all vehicle miles in 2024 and made up 9% of vehicles in fatal crashes.
What kinds of crashes involve large trucks?
Most fatal truck crashes involve another vehicle: 80% of large trucks in fatal crashes in 2024 were in multivehicle crashes, compared with 63% of passenger vehicles. In two-vehicle fatal crashes between a large truck and another vehicle, NHTSA’s 2024 data shows:
- both vehicles had frontal impacts in 30.7% of crashes;
- the truck was struck in the rear in 22.1% of crashes, about three times the 6.8% rate for the other vehicle;
- both vehicles were going straight in 42.4%, and the other vehicle was turning left in 8.9%;
- the truck was stopped in the road in 6.3%.
In nearly all of the rear impacts, the front of the other vehicle struck the back of the truck: 21.2% of these crashes, out of the 22.1%. That is the situation federal rules on rear reflective tape and warning triangles are meant to prevent.
Where and when do fatal truck crashes happen?
Most fatal truck crashes happen off the Interstate system and in daytime. NHTSA’s 2024 breakdown:
- 56% in rural areas and 44% in urban areas;
- 25% on Interstates and 75% on other roads;
- 5% in work zones;
- 76% on weekdays, and 70% of weekday crashes between 6 a.m. and 5:59 p.m.
Texas had the most large trucks in fatal crashes in 2024, at 699. As a share of all vehicles in fatal crashes, large trucks ranged from 1.5% in Hawaii to 18.1% in North Dakota.
What do the records of truck drivers in fatal crashes show?
Alcohol is rarely involved: 4% of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes in 2024 had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, compared with 25% of passenger car drivers and motorcyclists. Commercial drivers face a lower federal limit of .04. Looking back five years, 19.3% of truck drivers in fatal crashes had a previously recorded crash and 17.0% a prior speeding conviction, while 7.2% had a past license suspension or revocation, lower than for other drivers. FMCSA’s annual Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts adds driver-related factors coded by police, such as speeding and distraction.
Bottom line
The growth in medium-truck crashes is the trend to watch: their share of large trucks in injury crashes rose from 35% in 2020 to 44% in 2024, while heavy trucks’ share fell. For carriers, each crash also feeds the FMCSA safety data behind CSA scores and the jury awards discussed in nuclear verdicts in trucking.
FAQ
How many truck accidents happen per year?
Police reported an estimated 548,521 large trucks in crashes in 2024, including 5,218 in fatal crashes and 120,724 in injury crashes, per NHTSA.
Who usually dies in crashes with large trucks?
People in other vehicles: 70% of deaths in 2024. Truck occupants were 17% and pedestrians, cyclists and other non-occupants 12%.
Are truck crashes increasing?
Deaths fell in 2023 and again in 2024, after peaking at 5,969 in 2022. Estimated injuries rose 5% in 2024.
What should a driver do after a truck crash?
Secure the scene, call 911 if anyone is hurt, report to the carrier and preserve records. The full steps are in our guide on what to do after a truck crash.
